May 26, 2009
Real estate professionals are optimistic that home prices will hit bottom in the next six months, according to a survey from Inman News, a source for real estate market conditions and business trends.
About half of practitioners surveyed expect home prices to stay the same in the next six months, 29 percent expect them to drop, and 22 percent believe they will increase.
More than 84 percent of practitioners believe their clients’ homes lost value in the last year, while 12 percent say values had stayed the same. Only 3 percent believe homes had gained value.
Meanwhile, sellers were skeptical of their real estate professional’s analysis, with 69 percent believing their homes were worth more than the practitioner recommended. About 35 percent of home sellers thought their home was worth 10 percent to 20 percent more and 10 percent thought their home was worth at least 21 percent more than their real estate professional suggested.
I guess this might explain the disconnect between buyers and sellers right now.
May 1, 2009
Is now the time to buy a second home? Students of history and demographics would say yes because long term demand looks very good. Here is why.
There are 39 million people in the United States in the 50 to 59 age group. This is the prime time when most buy their second home. There are an additional 45 million people in the US between the ages of 40 and 49 trailing them, and then an additional 41 million in the 30 to 39 group. Most people start thinking of a second home when they reach their early 40s. This means there is a wave of potential second home buyers that is cresting over the next 14 years and that will drive demand for second homes.
Add in these additional factors;
1. Less supply. Many resort areas have exhausted their available buildable areas. Many Colorado mountain towns are good examples of this and just simply have no more room to build.
2. More demand. The single most important reason people give for buying a second home is for lifestyle. The next wave of 30 and 40 something’s’ are very much into this “lifestyle.”
3. More demand. After the shellacking everyone just took in the stock market, many are looking for alternative investments. Future demand for second homes will translate into appreciation for those buying second homes now.
Less supply, more demand - sounds good to me. Do you agree?